Blurb：
Betty's world shattered when her adoptive sister Sherry returned after three years. Her strict father and brother Ethan immediately embraced Sherry, forgetting their promise to Betty. While Betty was trapped in a landslide during what should have been her birthday celebration, her family was busy caring for feverish Sherry in Northwood. This emotional family drama explores themes of adoption, sibling rivalry, and neglect. Follow Betty's heartbreaking journey as she survives natural disasters and emotional abandonment, ultimately deciding which home truly deserves her return. Will Betty's biological family ever realize their mistake? Can Sherry's presence heal old wounds or create new ones? A powerful story about forgotten promises and the resilience of the human spirit.Content：
It was the third year after I’d been reunited with my biological family when my adoptive sister, Sherry, showed up on our doorstep late at night.Her face was a mask of stubborn pride, but it couldn’t hide the raw wound of neglect in her eyes. “Betty said she wouldn’t mind living with me,” she said, her voice trembling. “I’ve waited for three years. Why haven’t you come to get me?”
My father, a man I’d only ever known as strict and severe, felt his eyes well up with tears.
My brother, Ethan, shoved past me, his shoulder knocking into mine, and wrapped the girl in a fierce hug. “Sherry! I’ll never let anyone bully you again.”
They gathered around her, a flood of repressed emotion finally finding its release. My father told me to give Sherry her room back. My brother told me to stop being difficult and booked me a spot on a youth travel tour.
And then, they completely forgot their promise to pick me up.
While I was trapped by a landslide, they were celebrating Sherry’s birthday.
After I was rescued, one of the emergency workers handed me a phone. “You should call your family,” he said gently.
I shook my head, looking him in the eye. “Sir, could I possibly borrow two hundred and eight dollars?”
1
The rescuer, a kind-faced man in his forties, blinked. “Two hundred and eight?”
I ticked off the numbers on my fingers for him. “The bus from here to the train station is three dollars. The train ticket is a hundred and ninety-five. And the bus from the station to my town is another ten. It adds up to exactly two hundred and eight.”
A complicated expression crossed his face. “Kid, you don’t live in Northwood? After something this serious, you should wait for your family to come get you.”
“I’m an adult, sir,” I said softly. “I can decide which home I want to go back to.”
What I didn’t say was that some families, you could wait for forever, and they’d never come.
After splitting from the tour group yesterday, I’d waited on the mountain until I fell asleep. A sudden drop in temperature woke me to a dark, rain-lashed sky. My phone was on its last one percent of battery when I managed to call my brother.
“Betty?”
“Are you…” almost here?
“Oh! Dad and I were celebrating Sherry’s birthday this afternoon. The AC must have been too low or something because she’s running a fever now. We’re on our way to the hospital with her. Right, you were coming home today, weren’t you?”
“Yes, but…”
“You’ll have to get back on your own, okay?”
Beep. Beep. Beep.
The line went dead. The phone was off.
The doors to the few small shops on the summit were locked tight. There was nowhere to charge it. Too scared to navigate the treacherous mountain path without a guide, I huddled under the flimsy cover of a vendor’s stall. The wind howled, and the darkness felt alive.
Would they even notice I hadn’t come home? And if they did, would they worry about me the way they worried about Sherry?
I knew the answer. Of course not.
Just as they’d forgotten that today was supposed to be my birthday, not Sherry’s.
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The End